October 12, 2024
Last July, just after 11 a.m., the Hernando County (Fl.) Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from a Brooksville Youth Academy employee, who said “dozens” of teens were fighting. Five people were injured and more than a dozen were arrested. Two were charged with attempted murder.
According to its website, the Brooksville Youth Academy is a residential treatment center for teens ages 13-17 who struggle “with a variety of issues.” These issues include prior involvement in the juvenile justice system, prior psychiatric hospitalizations, family dysfunction, low impulse control, trauma history, neurodevelopmental disorders, personality disorders and substance abuse.
I mention this because the State of Vermont ships unmanageable juveniles to Brooksville, and continues to do so even after this incident (three Vermont youth were at the facility that day).
As of last November, 47 Vermont youths were in out-of-state placements in five different states, including Bledsoe Youth Academy in Tennessee (to which the states of New Hampshire and Texas stopped sending youths amid concerns over conditions and treatment by staff at the program).
At the moment, Vermont has no beds for such children. A four-bed facility is scheduled to open later this month in Middlesex, and the state has embarked on a longer-term plan to build a secure, 14-bed residential center in Vergennes.